LAS VEGAS – It was billed in jest as a Friday Night Fight in the city known for epic bouts, but a libertarian conference's headliner debate last night featuring "God is not Great" author Christopher Hitchens offered much more, reflecting the growing visibility and muscle of a new breed of atheists spreading their message with evangelical fervor.
The debate was one of eight at this year's FreedomFest, which describes itself as the tradeshow for liberty and the world's largest gathering of free minds.
With his trademark wicked wit, the British-born journalist Hitchens, now an American citizen, took on political writer and Hoover Institute scholar Dinesh D'Souza, a devout Catholic, on the subject, "War, Terrorism and Geo-Political Crisis: Is Religion the Solution or the Problem?"...